“Test me,” he says. “Read me. I have nothing to hide.”
She inhales and takes his large hand in both of hers and braces herself for the truth.
His hand is large, warm, and steady. The echo she gets off of him is emotionless, even. He’s not a robot—he’s just…good. Deceit doesn’t cloud his feelings, neither do any of the other sins; greed, ego, lust…Astrid likes touching him. It calms her, but this isn’t about her. It’s about who they are and where this is going.
And is Draco coming with them?
“Why are you like this?” she asks him. “Are you masking your emotions? Can you shield yourself?”
The hairs on her arms prickle from his touch and she still finds it hard to look directly at this face. His jaw, cheekbones, eyes, and lips are all things that should be immortalized in a museum. It’s why she calls him Mr. Perfect.
“No.” He holds out his palm to her, revealing himself. “Like you, I was born this way. Happy and content. But I also have a deep moral compass. I not only know right from wrong—I have a compulsion to do it right. Everything right. I’m your ally, Astrid. I’m loyal.”
Astrid eyes his defined bicep and broad chest. “And incredibly strong.”
“If you’re going to fight for justice, then you need a little power to be successful.”
Huh. She’d never thought of it that way.
“Well, Mr. Perfect, tell me what happens now? Demetria is in the hospital. Kincade is locked up. Blaze is dead. My friend has started a task force looking for anyone with special powers and is using a team that I trained to find us.” She glances at the live feed. “Oh and I just found out one of the members of my group is a willing recluse and we’re going to have to help him back into society.”
“None of those things should change your motivation, Astrid.” He’s still holding her hand and she’s making zero effort to pull away. That has never happened before. Not even with Quinn or Owen before they took the drug. Not because they made her feel bad, but particularly because Draco makes her feel good. “Why were you going out there in the first place?”
“There are two reasons, actually.” She looks up at him. “The first is to help people. I want to use this power for good and not let the negativity of it all take over. I don’t want to be like Blaze.”
“And the second?”
“To find out who killed my parents and Atticus.”
“Then there’s nothing stopping you. If anything, you have more time and resources to do that. You have a full team to back you up, and with Kincade and Demetria accounted for, less distractions.”
True, she thinks, watching the man carefully. But there’s a whole other layer of complications in Astrid’s life that she hasn’t tossed on the table. Training a new team for Jensen begins in the next week. A group of people she may be preparing to become her enemy. She’s in relationships now—two—and they work and live together. She has Casper to attend to, which means she’ll be dealing with Draco more and more.
And Mr. Perfect alone has the possibility of being incredibly distracting.
Removing her hand from his, she nods. “You’re right. We all just need to get back to work.”
He smiles. “You let me know if you need anything, okay?”
Oh yeah, she’ll be in contact. No doubt about that.